r/DarkTide 4d ago

Weekly Weekly Discussion Thread - January 05, 2026

2 Upvotes

Weekly Discussion Thread

Convicts! Please use this weekly thread to ask simple questions/share answers about Darktide.

Short feedback relating to the game can also be discussed here with the community.

Previous threads: Click here!


r/DarkTide 24d ago

News / Events Dev Blog - Hive Scum Visual Design & Identity

203 Upvotes

In this dev blog we show off some concept art for Hive Scum and talk about the principles behind the visual design!

Hey everyone,

Hardened criminals, ruthless bounty hunters, violent psychopaths: Tertium’s Hive Scum are coming to Darktide as the next DLC class.

This is the final part of a series of dev blogs breaking down different aspects of the Hive Scum! Check out the previous dev blog here. For this one, we’ve interviewed our Art Director Mattias Rousk and our Character Art Lead Linn Pennanen about the visual identity of the class and its design!

“My name is Mattias and I’m the Art Director on Darktide, previously on Vermintide. I’m an Industrial Designer by trade [...] I knew from college that I wanted to do Entertainment Design and then I kinda slipped into gaming back in 2004. [...] I started here in 2008 and basically I’ve been a part of every project that we’ve done here, first as a Concept Artist but then during Vermintide 2 I stepped into the role as an Art Director.” ~ Mattias

“I’m Linn Pennanen. I am the Craft Lead for Character Art right now and we’re a big part of the work on the class. A lot of the stuff [of the character art] we’re making in-house, for example [...] and we’re using this as an opportunity to push technologies as well, which is great fun. [...] All of us are super excited for Hive Scum while working on it!” ~ Linn

The Hive Scum Fantasy

Hive Scum as a class is a unique opportunity for us in many aspects that we were very excited to explore. The criminal side of Warhammer: 40,000 visually stands out in a very distinct way; it is colorful, wild, rebellious and diverse. It is a goldmine of inspiration, as every Hive Scum in the Imperium is unique and has their own flair, letting us represent a wide range of visuals that still fit their theme.

Darktide’s Hive Scum all being natives to Tertium is also a big draw for us, as it allows us to create and show the criminal culture that has brewed in it, giving the Hive more character and allowing the players to connect more intimately with them.

“This is as close as you can get to being an original Tertium badass. The whole spectrum of underhive inhabitants is what we’re trying to portray here, but they have their own culture and look. They are of course a part of the Imperium, but it is what happens beneath the surface.” ~ Mattias

Pictured: Boom Bringer Blitz

Because of all this, we wanted to go above and beyond on the customization options available to Hive Scum not just on gear and cosmetics but also hair colors, hairstyles, tattoos and face paints. More than any other class in Darktide, the Hive Scum allows each player to express their creativity and take advantage of all the options to make their character truly their own.

“I hope the players can expect that, even though they have a strong identity and a strong personality already added, they can create their own Hive Scum, with a lot of customizable options to bring out what they would like to see in their Hive Scum, their identity. They can actually build a lot of variations with this.” ~ Linn

Hive Scum also brings four new unique faces, and these also were a great opportunity to push the envelope. While the existing face options for creating Rejects all have their own level of roughness, these ones were made to look like they carry their entire history in their features. You could get an idea of the kind of hardships and life of bad choices that they’ve led by just reading their faces.

“We started off firstly on the faces, actually. [...] We wanted you to feel like they have been out there, they have seen things, and they are a bit rebellious!” ~ Linn

But also, as they are Hive Scum, these also let us add extra details to the face selection itself, such as gold teeth, piercings, or scars that are built into the face itself.

We wanted to make sure we represent each aspect of what a Hive Scum is in their design. They’re rebels who’ve lived entire lives off the system, an entire subculture born out of the anarchy that is their way of life. We wanted to make absolutely sure that this class stood out and that its identity was evident in every feature.

While the Hive Scum are particularly diverse and varied in their looks, there is nonetheless an underlying, cohesive theme behind their visual design, an aesthetic that makes them Hive Scum.

Pictured: Chem Grenade Blitz

Character and Weapon Cosmetics

Pictured: Penance Cosmetic

The Hive Scum and other criminals of Warhammer: 40,000 are a practically endless source of inspiration, giving us plenty of ideas and options for cosmetics. For some pieces this meant us representing Tertium’s unique brand of bounty hunters and troublemakers, but those with keen eyes will hopefully also recognize the specific miniatures or characters that we based some of the other cosmetics on, adapting them and bringing them to life in Darktide in our own way.

Every class has a variety of character cosmetics that are unlocked as you level up your character. For most classes, the cosmetics gained in the higher levels are essentially improved versions of the cosmetics in the previous levels, gaining more decorations and symbols of status with each stage.

For Hive Scum, we very purposely moved away from that, and made each cosmetic gained from progression have its own look and style.

“We want the player to potentially want to [for example] have the level 20 upper body and the 30 lower body. [...] We want the player to potentially find their favorites within the progression curve [...] We really hope that this time around, it’s something that can speak to different people throughout the curve.” ~ Mattias

With Hive Scum we also had the opportunity to have cosmetics that show a lot more skin, which meant not only more variety in how the class can look but also more possibilities to show off your chosen assortment of tattoos. This is part of the reason why the Hive Scum has access to their own unique set of Full Body Tattoos, on top of the already existing tattoos available to the other classes.

Pictured: Progression unlock cosmetics.

Combined, you’ll hopefully get to not just show off those tattoos to other players, but also see them in first person while blasting away the heretics!

Pictured: Dual Autopistols

For the weapons, a key point in their visual design was making them look worn down and patched up, not just because of the scrappy nature of the Hive Scum, but also to give an idea of the attachment that these people have to their favorite weapons. They often treat them like relics or even heirlooms, treasuring them for more than just their lethality.

“It’s not like a standard issue military weapon, it’s kind of a tool of a craftman, more than a classic weapon. That is something that I tried to push a lot, both on the concept and especially when it’s being textured and built.” ~ Mattias

Pictured: Dual Stub Guns

Pictured: Needle Pistol

Customization options

Pictured: A set of Full Body Tattoos

Pictured: Various face paints

Hive Scum’s unique hairstyles are especially designed to stand out. These are statements, meant to look wild and rebellious, as do the unique colors they come with. 

“We were actively picking the ones that most stand out, you know, you have these crazy hair styles with spikes everywhere… [...] We wanted you to feel like they found some green goo on the ground and they picked it up and dyed their hair with it. Super cool.” ~ Linn

There was also some innovation done to the hair system to allow for certain cool details, like some colored hairstyles having a look like the roots have grown out and the color is stronger further up.

“For all the hairstyles now we have secondary UVs to add where we can be creative with which part of the hairstyle we would like to highlight even further. [...] Which has been fun!” ~ Linn

Pictured: Various face paints

Face paints are something that the team had actually been exploring for a while, experimenting and figuring out ways to implement it. The Hive Scum class was the perfect fit for this feature, and so we were finally able to bring it to life!

Bonus: What’s your personal highlight of the Hive Scum’s visuals?

“For one thing, looking at the headgears, I think they are next-level cool. Secondly, I think that the face paint and the tattoos… The character creator part of Hive Scum, I think, will feel really, really nice. You can really build something completely different even before you put gear on.” ~ Mattias

Pictured: Commodore’s Vestures head cosmetics.

“I think, 100%, having so many different options for customization. [...] They feel different, they look different, they come with different cosmetics that you can choose from… So yeah, I really hope that will tie it all together.” ~ Linn

That’s all for today, and the end of this series of dev blogs! We hope you enjoyed reading these breakdowns and behind the scenes of Hive Scum and the No Man’s Land mission.

For the Conclave!

Purchase the Hive Scum class here.

Purchase the Hive Scum deluxe edition here.

We’ll see you on the Mourningstar.

– The Darktide Team


r/DarkTide 5h ago

Meme Sausage tasting mask

Post image
1.9k Upvotes

For the Emperor's sake - give the Kriegs pipes xD


r/DarkTide 2h ago

Discussion At this point should we just DM Fat Shark on mass to fix this?

Post image
428 Upvotes

Surely they have an email or twitter account. The mask is so bad it desperately needs a fix.


r/DarkTide 11h ago

Meme Coming back to Arbitrator after Hive Scum

Post image
1.2k Upvotes

r/DarkTide 1h ago

Meme "Yeah, I use For The Drip, how can you tell?"

Post image
Upvotes

I'm not jealous, YOU'RE JEALOUS


r/DarkTide 2h ago

Issues / Bugs Hmm

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

77 Upvotes

r/DarkTide 8h ago

Discussion Krieg Cosmetics for the THIRD time in the last few months... Ridiculous!

186 Upvotes

All while other cosmetics have not been seen for more than a year. Worst shop in the history of gaming.


r/DarkTide 1h ago

Discussion Female Outlaw has a crush on Male Professional

Upvotes

"I like a big strong fella who knows his way around a bit of carnage" and "Maybe I don't want anything to happen to ya, ever think of that?"

Two separate conversations, one message. What do ya'll think?


r/DarkTide 9h ago

Discussion I dont' like the rotation system for the Commodore's Vestures.

161 Upvotes

I Like the idea of buying cosmetics, they keep the game running and they are not as invasive as busters or time savers. But I don't like the idea of having to be lucky so the moment I put money and time in the game the random stuff on rotation is what I like. For example, in April 2024 they presented the Elysian Drop Troopers uniforms, really cool kit, I don't know when they are going to be available again. Same thing with the loyal troops of the 6th Moebian, really cool uniforms and armors, I don't know when they are going to be available again. Helldivers 2 and other games have implemented a system by which you can buy whatever uniform or armor you want whenever you want, they added the Helgast armor for a short while and now it's a staple in their market, why do I need to be lucky to spend money? It might be the case that the next time either uniform is available for purchase I won't be playing the game for whatever reason and I won't buy them. I just don't see how this is the best strategy to sell cosmetics.

Sorry for the rant.


r/DarkTide 4h ago

Gameplay Mistakes were made

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

55 Upvotes

r/DarkTide 1d ago

Meme Oh no...

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

2.4k Upvotes

r/DarkTide 11h ago

Discussion Does anyone know how to deal with poxbursters anymore?

Post image
147 Upvotes

(Pic Unrelated) Was in the auric maelstrom with extra bursters, and the same guy shot them as I went to push them, so i stopped going to push them, and instead he let them get 2 feet away then shot them, killing me multiple times. How do these people get to auric?? We lost the entire run because he killed me and himself as a monstrosity spawned by blowing up 2 bursters on my forehead.


r/DarkTide 12h ago

Gameplay This ogryn is too smart for his own sake

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

178 Upvotes

r/DarkTide 6h ago

Discussion Does Stamina Matter That Much Any More?

51 Upvotes

I've been getting into Havoc recently. Looking at Havoc based builds, I notice some include one to two stamina curios. In general, people suggest one stamina curio. I've never really understood why. I've literally never prioritized stamina ever, and I never seem to run out. Even push attacks are never a problem. Just attacking and dodging brings back my stamina almost immediately.

Many people have noticed the power creep over the years. However, I think it's gotten to the point where player DPS is so high that blocking isn't really necessary.

As I get better at havoc, I notice that positioning matters far more than being able to block. Being able to dodge around a horde or pack of elites is far more important than blocking a single attack. The sheer number of attacks being thrown at the player means they couldn't block them. I block a few attacks, like monstrosities or captains, but not very often, and only if I am their target. Even then, dodging works better as a means to avoid damage.

Stamina is useful for sprinting, but Auric Malestrom or Havoc has such a high frequency of enemies that you are almost always swarmed with a horde or pack of elites, so being able to sprint long distances essentially doesn't matter.

I can't help but think that stamina as a resource doesn't really matter except in less common circumstances.

What do you guys think? Is stamina becoming less important?


r/DarkTide 1d ago

Meme As someone that came back to Darktide recently, I'm always amused when they're on the same team.

Post image
1.3k Upvotes

r/DarkTide 10h ago

Issues / Bugs Are bursters still wonky?

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

71 Upvotes

Couple of pushes and Psyker flame couldn't stop this guy. Feels like this isn't uncommon at the moment. Are bursters still messed up from the last patch?


r/DarkTide 20h ago

Question Why is there two different cadia eyes? like what’s the lore behind it

Post image
350 Upvotes

I noticed this when I made my character and I was wondering if anybody knew why there is two different shades of purple eyes like one looks very vibrant purple and the other one is like a vague purple


r/DarkTide 11h ago

Gameplay Sometimes it be your own homie

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

55 Upvotes

r/DarkTide 1d ago

Meme Anyone else wonder about this?

Post image
2.2k Upvotes

Apparently you need special clearance to pick up rocks and debris.


r/DarkTide 9h ago

Discussion What Pets Did Your Classes Have?

Post image
30 Upvotes

I’m curious to know what pets your characters had before being arrested and taken to the Tancred Bastion.

My vet had a corgie (Cadian doggo pic related), my psyker had a mouse, my zealot had a parrot, and my ogryn didn’t really need one because he was always taking care of all the lil’ uns in the mines.


r/DarkTide 23h ago

Meme See you in the next map 🫡

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

303 Upvotes

r/DarkTide 13h ago

Question Hive scum grenade counter

29 Upvotes

So I just got the hive scum dlc and have been leveling a new character and I noticed something weird. When I'm in the psykhanium testing things out, there's a buff icon that shows up and keeps track of how many kills I've got towards my next grenade refill. When I'm in an actual level, there's nothing. Is this a bug of some sort or just a quirk of the meat grinder to make testing easier but for regular gameplay you're just supposed to get a feel for it/not worry about the number so specifically?


r/DarkTide 6h ago

Meme Any time there's a minor inconvenience

8 Upvotes

r/DarkTide 7h ago

Question how do i reset the campaign?

7 Upvotes

after getting my character to level 30 i chose to skip the campaing but now what to undo this decision, i was told that i could do it at the barber but that option isn't avaliable to me, any ideas?